Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

In just an instant, Eldrin appeared before Loren. After his corruption, his attributes surpassed Loren’s.

A flash of black light, and Loren was already pinned to the ground with Eldrin’s hand around his neck. As Eldrin continued to exert force, Loren’s bones creaked and groaned.

”This attack didn’t pass through. So you can’t evade close-quarters attacks, it seems.”

Eldrin raised his magic wand, determined to end Loren right then and there. At this moment, the wand more closely resembled a spiked club, more than sufficient as a melee weapon.

”You guess.”

Even though his face was already flushed and strained, Loren still managed to flash a smile. It was precisely this smile that sent a wave of unease through Eldrin.

By the time Eldrin loosened his grip, it was already too late. He saw Loren pull open his black robe. Beneath the robe was packed full of explosives—around his waist, on his chest, on his thighs... all high explosives. And at that moment, the explosives had already detonated.

Eldrin was first engulfed by the light of the explosion, then came the sound of the blast. Even in neighboring cities, one could see a massive mushroom cloud blooming over the Royal Capital.

The entire Royal Capital trembled. The dust and smoke from the explosion lingered for a long, long time without dispersing. In the end, it was Loren who used a wind magic scroll to finally blow it all away. By then, the teaching building had completely transformed into a deep crater; even the foundation had been blasted away.

”You’re quite tenacious to kill, Eldrin.”Eldrin had turned into a spiky ball. Under the explosion, half the spikes on his body had been blasted off. His body, just recently repaired, was once again shattered and fragmented.

Looking at Loren, the only thing on his body that could be considered an injury was the mark on his neck, and even those marks were now almost completely faded.

As for Void-walking, Loren had developed quite a few applications for it. A suicide infantryman unaffected by his own explosion—who could withstand that?

”I already know your weakness.”

Black energy coiled around Eldrin, forcibly coalescing the limbs he had lost. His body grew increasingly distorted. From the wounded areas, hands began to sprout uncontrollably, twisting and writhing with motions that defied normal anatomy, determined to tear Loren apart.

”Right, right, right. You know my weakness. I’m so scared.”

Loren’s No. 1 backup hidden energy source hadn’t killed Eldrin. Now it was time for No. 2 backup hidden energy source.

On Loren’s still-intact black robe, crimson runes suddenly materialized:

”God of Pleasure, Endless Bliss Cassian, I...”

”Master Mentor!”

Before Loren could finish reciting Cassian’s revered name, he saw a familiar figure descending from the sky. The silver-white cape was exceptionally dazzling under the sunlight.

The runes on Loren’s body dimmed. Since Luna had arrived, he probably wouldn’t need the No. 2 backup hidden energy source. Nor would he need the No. 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 backup hidden energy sources for the time being.

Luna swung her silver sword, severing the hand that connected Eldrin to his staff. Against this kind of thing, Luna’s sword was far more effective than Loren’s blade.

From the moment she arrived, she attacked with desperate ferocity, forcefully suppressing Eldrin.

Ever since she realized Loren hadn’t come with the others, she had been searching for him. She was determined to fulfill her promise to protect Loren. It was the sound of the earlier explosion that drew her here.

She didn’t ask for reasons. She only knew that whatever Loren did was right.

”One slash, another slash, burning blade!”

Loren wasn’t about to let such a good opportunity slip by. He threw a scroll into the air. As his long blade swept past the scroll, flames instantly ignited, severing the several hands that were trying to attack Luna.

The strength of these sprouted hands wasn’t as high as the original ones; even Loren could cut through them easily.

”Should figure out a way to get a proper weapon.”

The thought of acquiring a suitable weapon crossed Loren’s mind, but the blade in his hand didn’t slow down one bit. He swiftly left dense, crisscrossing wounds all over Eldrin’s back. Although each wound wasn’t deep, it was still unpleasant.

”Ah!”

Eldrin roared in fury. Black energy erupted from him, blasting both Loren and Luna away. The attack didn’t deal much damage, so Loren simply didn’t bother using Void-walking. Instead, he took the opportunity to put distance between himself and Eldrin.

After that explosion, Eldrin was already a candle flickering in the wind. Everything he did now was nothing but a death struggle.

”Loren, I know you want the Tear of Condensed Wishes. Let me live, and I’ll give you the Tear.”

At this point, Eldrin proposed a deal to Loren.

”Wasn’t the Tear of Condensed Wishes with me... Huh?”

Loren felt the place where he had kept the Tear. It was empty.

”I cast a spell on the Tear of Condensed Wishes in advance. No matter where it is, I can retrieve it. Without me, you won’t be able to find it.”

As he said this, a smile appeared on half of Eldrin’s face:

”How about it? Let me go. Not only will I give you the Tear of Condensed Wishes and the method to replenish it, but I’ll also give you all my research on Crimson Magic. What do you say? You’re not the type to reject Crimson Magic, are you?”

Eldrin was extremely confident. He felt Loren couldn’t possibly refuse this deal. He had no evidence proving Loren was the Robed Figure. Given Loren’s identity and status, even if he let Eldrin go, it wouldn’t pose much of a threat to Loren.

”Step back, Luna.”

”Huh?”

Luna was taken aback that Loren directly called out her name. Simultaneously, Eldrin, hearing Luna’s name, completely understood what this meant.

A superhero’s identity was a secret. Since Loren had let him know it, it meant Loren had no intention of giving him any chance to survive.

Loren threw out all the scrolls from inside his black robe in one go. The unfurled scrolls almost blocked out the sunlight. Various magics rained down like a downpour. By the time the magic was fully unleashed, all that remained of Eldrin was half a charred, blackened skull.

The Tear of Condensed Wishes didn’t matter. Loren knew all of Eldrin’s hideouts anyway. At worst, he could just search them one by one later. He’d take the Crimson Magic too, without needing Eldrin’s help at all.

However, Loren didn’t receive any level-up notification. For a BOSS like Eldrin, killing him would definitely cause Loren to level up. Since there was no notification, it meant Eldrin wasn’t dead yet.

”Really tenacious at staying alive.”

It seemed his hatred pleased Ligoss greatly, granting him so much power.

But this was also a good thing; it gave Loren the chance to use Pluto’s Mouth.

Loren walked toward Eldrin completely unguarded, intending to pick up the Crimson Core scattered nearby. Although Loren’s magic had been aimed at Eldrin, the Crimson Core remained undamaged; this thing was quite sturdy too.

The moment Loren bent down to pick up the Crimson Core, a bone spike suddenly shot out from the eye socket of Eldrin’s skull, piercing straight through Loren’s body.

”Master Mentor! Ugh...”

Luna let out a scream. Just as she was about to run over, she saw Loren, acting as if nothing was wrong, wipe the Crimson Core and even turn around to give Luna a thumbs-up.

While still impaled, Loren turned in a circle... Luna instantly fell silent.

”Why do you villains all like making a last-ditch counterattack when you’re about to die?”

Loren stepped out of the range of the bone spike, placed his hand on Eldrin’s head, and in the next moment, Eldrin’s skull vanished without a trace.